Thoughts and Reflections

Loving Jesus The Most

Matthew 10:37-39

37Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

The summer is prime family time and it is almost over dear readers! What have we accomplished this summer? Did we have any vacation time? Are we excited that school is almost here or are we wishing for a few more weeks? Do we have anything planned with the family as the summer comes to an end?

With the fall comes the football season. I know there are some who have issues with the NFL right now – but I must confess that I am watching the Ravens in a pre-season game tonight. I hope – if you watch football – that your team (College – Pro or High School) plays well this year (our local High School team needs to have a good year this year). Sports on TV are often a family event in many homes. I know I am blessed by a wife who loves football. We often spend time together watching games.

I’m putting up a small pool for the grandchildren this weekend. I’ve invited them all over the enjoy it – maybe Sunday afternoon. I hope to get it up Friday so the water warms up some by Sunday.

Today’s passage presents a thought that may be hard to understand – because of our love for family – and spending time with family. Jesus tells us – Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me… Aren’t we supposed to love our family? Isn’t family love supposed to be pretty tight? I mean isn’t the German phrase – blood is thicker than water – supposed to be a reference to how tight families are compared to general friendships with non-family members?

Yet Jesus says – if we don’t love Him more than even our own family – we are not worthy of Him. I like Matthew’s account of this passage – because Luke’s gospel account says it this way – Luke 14:26 –If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple.

Using both Gospel accounts – we can understand that if our love for Jesus isn’t so much greater than even our great love for family – even so much greater that our love for family can be considered hate – we are not worthy to be Christ’s disciple. We must love Jesus the most. That is saying a mouth full my friends. I must ask us this question – How much do we love Jesus? Really – how much do we love Jesus?

Jesus said – John 14:15 –If you love me, you will obey what I command.Are we following the commands of God? Even as Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount to deal with our thoughts as well as our actions – dealing with feelings of hatred while not committing murder – dealing with lust while also dealing with sinful sexual behavior? Do we love Jesus the most?

My wish for us this summer (what’s left of it) and into the fall is this – that our love for Christ will grow and that we will love Jesus with our whole being. My prayer for us is to love Jesus the most!